Girls basketball: Titans’ smiles fade in 5th straight loss

CLEVELAND — Lorain was all smiles walking into Quicken Loans Arena on Monday afternoon for its Lake Erie League game against Euclid. After the final buzzer sounded, it was the Panthers who were smiling after handing the Titans their fifth straight loss, 57-38.

“When we first got here everyone was excited. It’s a nice venue and they make it a great experience for kids,” Lorain coach Mark Feldmann said. “The kids are a little down now because they don’t like to lose.”

Euclid (7-3, 5-1 LEL) took control early, scoring 13 of the first 15 points of the game. Lorain answered back with an 11-4 run to pull within six, 31-25, at the half. It was the closest the Titans got the rest of the game.

Freshman Tremia Blair led the Titans (4-7, 2-3) with 11 points. Senior Destiny Wilson was also in double figures with 10.

While being disappointed in the outcome, Wilson, who entered averaging 11.5 points, said she will always cherish the opportunity to play on the home court of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“We’ve never done anything like this before, so when we walked in here, everybody looked around and was just like, ‘Wow,’” Wilson said. “Our fans coming here to cheer us on and just to be on that court made this a really wonderful experience.”

All season, Lorain has been battling injuries that have forced Feldmann to adjust his lineup. Those lineup shuffles have also led to turnovers and missed assignments on the defensive end. Both issues flared up again as the Titans turned the ball over 26 times and allowed Euclid to shoot 43 percent from the field.

“We’re having a hard time handling the ball,” Feldmann said. “We’ve got to get stronger and take care of the basketball. Our defense also needs work, but right now, we are spending so much time on offense in practice right now because that is the weakest part of our game.”

Euclid was led by Erin Haislah, who scored a game-high 21 points. Tomariah Whitner and Rachelle White added 12 and 10 points.

“Some nights we’re hot, some nights we’re cold,” Panthers coach Lynn Phillips said. “The other night we shot 22 percent on our home court. Today we shot the ball well. I was pleased with our performance but we know we still have a lot of work to do.”